This invention relates to synthetic ground cover. More particularly, it relates to artificial pine needles for use as a ground cover.
Naturally occurring pine needles have been used for years as a ground cover especially around bedding plants. However, the use of pine needles as a ground cover has been somewhat restricted to places where pine needles grow such as, for example, the Southeastern United States. This is primarily due to the cost involved in transporting pine needles to other regions. Recently the use of pine needles as a ground cover has become extremely popular. Pine needles are very attractive and relatively inexpensive, particularly as compared to pine bark, and covers more ground than pine bark per unit weight.
The more popular pine needle is the long leaf needle which is longer than the loblolly pine needle and easier to bale. The color of the long leaf pine needle is also more attractive to gardeners.
The use of natural pine needles as ground cover does have several drawbacks. First of all, it is a labor intensive process to gather the pine needles since the needles must be raked from the pine forest floor and then baled. In some cases equipment can be used for raking, however, often, particularly in natural stands of trees, hand raking is necessary. Furthermore, the raked pine needles must be cleaned of contaminants such as sticks, twigs, and other items which will also occur on the forest floor. Also, because the pine needles have a high acid content, the gardener quite often must use lime on the soil where the pine needles are to be placed in order to balance the PH of the soil. In addition, natural pine needles are highly flammable and thus create a dangerous fire hazard, particularly when used near a building.